I love my boys. I have four, you know. They are in 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade. All four of them are involved in some kind of activity. We’ve got two that play football, three that play basketball, two that will join the track team and then there are music lessons. We volunteer at our local outreach to play the worship music Sunday mornings, which means… early to rise. When do I have time to write, you may wonder. When do I have time for anything is a better question.
I work full time now, which I consider to be a blessings so I certainly won’t complain about that. But finding time to exercise, do laundry or even just relax with a good book and a glass of wine is nearly impossible. That’s why I’m whining now. We get up at 5:30am every morning and just run, run, run. So I ask you…. When do you find time to do things for yourself?
I’m going to say that it probably won’t happen. And since time goes by so quickly when you are blessed with a family, I’ll just have to tough it out. Before I know what hit me in the back of the head, they will all be out of high school and on their way to college. At that point I’ll probably be sitting with my husband and thinking… “Why is it so quiet? I’m bored.” Okay, probably not “I’m bored,” but I will certainly feel the void when they are gone. So I guess I’ll have to settle for the occasional nap and enjoy the hugs and kisses I get for being there for them when they need me. Now I can identify with my father’s old saying, “There’ll be plenty of time for sleep when I’m dead.”
I try to write schedules. I have a white board for the practices and games. I give them one free forget your helmet ticket. Mom will go return with a new one because you did not leave in the garage or your bedroom it is gone, stolen. Therefore Mom will run to the sports store (can't make it all the way to Play it Again Sports in a pinch) and buy another one, run on the field like a big geek and hand you the helmet. I write in my journal in the stadium. I make character notes on my iphone at practices. I check homework at the wee hours and get up at 5 to write. This past month I added in caring for my Mother after her stroke and I'm down to 102 pounds. Did you say something about a glass of wine Judy? Maybe it is easier without a husband for me to depend on? We have a pile of pets, if only I could teach them to do chores.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing around all the things anyways, make goals, stick to your guns ( I wear a funny Darth Maul baseball hat to indicate Mom needs an hour of quiet - go read a book)XX00 We are so blessed in a wink it will be gone.
I am in awe. You know that, Judy. Four, a year apart. I have two younger than yours, two grades apart. My youngest just started K this year--and it wound up aligning perfectly with the first year (after 11 spent trying) that I have a novel coming out and another to write. Before that I squeezed my writing in during naps (both were heroic nappers, my oldest giving me two hours till she was 5, my youngest stopping a little after she did), 4 am bursts, and late night hustles. Balancing is hard--and with four separate sports, I literally don't know how you do it. My older quit soccer this year and I was half-disappointed, half-relieved.
ReplyDeleteCaroline, you have a lot of great ideas. I especially love the one with the hat. Probably some kind of indicator that I'm writing would be a good thing. I'm almost always at my computer when I'm home, if I'm not outside playing with the kids. Good thinking, I have a giant calendar on the back of my front door with all our activities. Crazy...
ReplyDeleteJenny, thank you so much for the kind words. I am actually ridiculously tired. I appreciate the boys so much and don't ever want them to remember my NOT showing up for games, so I'm there. I realize that time goes by fast and someday I will miss all of this. But until then... where ever I go, flash drive will travel.